CalPERS has ordered the former chief of the Loomis Fire District to pay back more than $460,000 in illegal retirement payments.

The agency says former Fire Chief David Wheeler knowingly broke the law by collecting the money while working for three years, despite repeated warnings from the agency.

CalPERS' General Counsel called it a "clear case of pension abuse."

California retirement law requires that Wheeler could only collect a state pension while working in a temporary position for a limited duration, but he kept working a full-time job with the Loomis Fire District.